Photo © Ben Heller (Underwood & Underwood)
Looking north from 72nd Street on December 6 , 1937 we see the newly opened stretch of The Henry Hudson Parkway. Continue reading
What Happens To Squealer’s
This is not The Sopranos or The Godfather.
75 years ago, gangsters did really nasty things to you, if you talked to the cops.
The back of this Acme news photograph sums it up:
Trussed from head to foot, the body of Samuel Silverman is examined by Deputy Medical Examiner Romeo Auerbach. The victim was found in a car parked in Brooklyn, N.Y. with three bullets in his skull. Police believe Silverman was killed for “putting the finger” on other men involved in a hold up, for which he was out on bail. July 16, 1937
Silverman , 25, who lived at 869 Hopkinson Avenue, Brooklyn, was found in front of 324 East 91st Street, Brooklyn on July 15, 1937. The body was discovered at 5 pm by a youth who happened to glance inside the parked car.
Silverman had been arrested Continue reading
This unusual accident with a car climbing a telephone pole occurred in Akron, OH on May 14, 1936. The caption for this news photograph is “Lois Gerstenmaer somehow managed to get her car into this position. Thankfully nobody was hurt or injured.”
The year is 1937 and we are looking north on the west side of Sixth Avenue. The Sixth Avenue Elevated in the background will soon be torn down. Sitting out in front of Roxy Jewelers is a man trying to drum up business to “sell your diamonds, pawn tickets, gold, silver, jewelry & antiques for the highest prices paid.” The Great Depression saw many people selling off whatever valuables they had to pay the rent or just have enough to eat. Continue reading
Decades before South Park, Warner Bros. put this cartoon out in theaters. Bosko’s Picture Show, from 1933 features this incredible scene.
Here is the entire original cartoon and at about 5:50 in, is the offensive portion. Or just watch the 3 second clip below.
Language warning here – play in front of children at your discretion: Continue reading
Marbles is a game that I have never seen anyone play in person in my entire life. When I was a young boy, I had a collection of marbles that my grandparents gave me. I would roll them around and marvel at the beautiful orbs of color, but no one ever taught me how to play marbles. Somewhere among my many apartment moves I did lose my marbles. American children seem to have lost their marbles too, for the game is clearly not popular anymore.
click to enlarge
Marbles as a competitive game is still played, but there are probably more collectors of marbles than there are players worldwide. Continue reading
The Cagney’s Arrive At The Academy Awards Ceremony March 12, 1938
From left to right are: William Cagney, producer and manager, Boots Mallory (William’s wife), Frances (“Bill”) Cagney (James’ wife) and James Cagney, actor extraodinaire.
In 1938 the Cagney family had no nominations for any awards, and that is an unlikely reason for the dour looks on everyone’s faces. Maybe they had a fight on the way over to the ceremony. We’ll never know, but they certainly don’t look happy.
The following year James Cagney would be nominated for a best actor award for Angels With Dirty Faces. He lost to Spencer Tracy in Boys Town.
James Cagney would win a best actor Oscar in 1942 for his portrayal of George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy.
Below, a great speech by James Cagney accepting the lifetime achievement award from the American Film Institute in 1974.
Two way vehicular traffic is probably a shocking thing to see on Fifth Avenue, but in 1930 it was the norm. We’re looking north from 59th Street. The Sherry-Netherland Hotel is on the right. Continue reading
Who is this gentleman? No it is not a sketch from Monty Python, such as a man with a tape recorder up his nose. Continue reading
For a brief period there was a park in the middle of Park Avenue. This is not it. When road lanes were widened in the 1920’s the pedestrian plaza with benches were removed and replaced with a park like median which is surrounded by fencing and has no public access.
Looking north from around 38th street, Grand Central Terminal is in the middle of this photograph and behind it is the New York Central Building (currently called the Helmsley Building.) Continue reading